Draft regulating apparatus



May l5, 1945.

R. A. WALKER 2,376,211-

DRAFT REGULATING APPARATUS Filed May l5, 1943 Ain 1.. v

Patented May 15, 1945 f UNITED STATES PATENT FFICEDI* f DRAFT'REGULAHNG APPlnaA'rUsVv f 'Riharfi.wa1ker, st. JossepigMo. d

i 'applicaties May-1s, 194s, serial Ne. 486,793

A 'l I 21.."4loiaims. (o1. zeefis) t Myinvention relates to improvements in draft regulating apparatus. It relates 'particularly'to the type of draft regulating apparatus invwhich a damper plate, lpivoted on ahorizontal airis in ajring plate adaptedto be fastened to'the air .intake'end of a draft piper of asmoke'pfipe, has

a largersurace larea below itsaxis than above it, whereby a sufficient outside atmospheric presvsure will swing the damper plate from a' closed position at an angle thereto.

One of the objects `of my inventionl vis the position in the plane oi the ring plateto van open provision of `novel'rneans for hingihg the damper `plate in the ring plate by which a minimum "of `'friction resisting the swinging of the damper'will' 'be afforded; whichprovides novel bearing means for the kpintles supporting the damper plate'that lwill prevent the accumulation'lof' rustand `other deposits lwherethey will interfere with thefree turningy kof the `pintles `vin. the bearing`'1`n'eans;`- [which will hold the edges of the dampelplate spaced from the inner edge of the ring platefand will eliminate the need of `washersor` gaskets fior eiecting such spacing, which is simple,` cheap to manufacture and may be 'quickly 'and' easily assembledin operative condition. v, y, y. ,y

A further object of my invention'is" the jprovision of novel counter balancingme'ans' for the `damper plate, including ay novel'counterbalancing weightr that may be vforrned'frornscrap' vpieces ywlflifcl'i"can loeutili'zedarid handled asia unit.: AAV'Ihenovel features Aof my invention'are 'hereinaiterfully describedand claimed. i

' the yaccompa flying drawing, which illus trateskmy invention, 7

Fig. 1v is an outside elevation of'nfly I'improved draft" regulating apparatus, vshowing jthe vdamper Fig. y2 is an inside elevation Qrwnat is snown `r`lFigBis aseotion portion of .the ring plate anda portionfof the Fig.' 5 vis an outside elevationof "aportio'nof *the ring plate and a portion of vthev damperplate,

showingftloe4 other pintle yopers'atively engaged with the other bearing plate; whichj'ss'hown in` `'iferticial*'sefction. M55

of the bearing plates.

`11 is a' side elevation 'of one'of Athe bearing plates, enlarged. l n Y' Fig. 12 is an outside elevation,'enlarged, of a portion oi'v that part of the ring plate/shown in Fig. 5, showing the outer end portion of the adjacent pintle operatively mounted in 'the adjacent ybearing plate, which is-shown inv vertical section ltodisclose the projection fin 'the notch against which .the :outer end of the pintle bears.

Similar characters of reference designate similar parts lin the diierent views.

I designates a ring platehaving an annular peripheral flange 2 adapted to be snuglyitted in the air intake endof a draftrpipe 3,@Fig. 3, which usually'iorms the airintake of, a T joint mounted ina'smokepip'e, not shown.

4 designates a circular damper platedisposed within and spaced slightly from the inner edge of .the ringplate.

5 and B designate respectively two longitudinally alined horizontal pintl'e's rigidly fastened tov the damperplate 4 in a plane above the'horitles are in the axisof the damper plate, sothat there is more surface area of the'damper plate 4below the axis of the damper Iplate than the surface area above said axis. Any7 suitable means 'for rigidly attaching the'v pintles tothe damper 'plate mayfbe employed.

In the' specific means shown in the drawing,

the pintle, Fig. 5, is mounted in three "alin'e'd horizontal depressions "l, 8 and"9, the end depressions 'l and 9 being depressed intoone side of the damper plate, andthe middle depression 8 being depressed 'into the opposite side 'of the damper plate. The pintle 5 projects from 'the damper plateat'its outerfencL andr its inner end bears against the closed inner end 'of the inner depression 9. The-middle'depression 8 ispinched so'as to hold thepintletightly in its operative position. v i l Theothe'r pintle';6,`Figs. 4 and 5, is similarly mounted in threeljdepressions' lo; `ljlandl z, which aune'with they @designers anda, ffriiemnjer depression I2, as thedamprp-late is'or'i'ginally made, at its inner end merges into a concentric arcuate groove I3 in the damper plate, so that the pintle 6 may be inserted into the depressions I0, I I and I2 from the inner side into its operative position.

When this has been done, the inner end of the depression I2 is indented, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 at I4 to hold the pintle 6 from inward movement. The reasons for this construction will be explained hereinafter.

Alined with the axis of the damper plate 4 are two oppositely disposed notches I5 in the inner edge of the ring plate I. An axial projection I6 extends inwardly from the closed end of each notch I5, and the outer ends of thepntles 5 and 6 respectively bear against the inner ends .of said projections I6, thus holding the damper plate 4 from contacting at its outeriedge with the inner edge of the ring plate I.

For pivotally supporting the pintles 5 and 6 respectively in their operative positions, two bearing plates generally designated by IT, are respectively mounted inthe notches I5.

A description of one bearing plate I1 will sufce for both as they are constructed alike.

In the construction of the bearing plate, a blank, shown in Fig. 8, is cut from a flat sheet of metal, said blank having extending from its middle portion I8 two arms I9, and having extending at right angles to the arms I9 at opposite edges of the middle portion I8, two wing portions 20. A pintle receiving opening 2I is punched in the center of the middle portion I8.

'Ihe wing portions 20 are bent parallel withl each other at one side of the blank, after which the arms I9 are bent at the same side of the blank as the wing portions, but at right angles thereto and to t against the edges of the wing portions 20 thus forming with the middle portion I8 and arms I9 a closed compartment. The outer portions of the arms I9 beyond the wing portions 20 are disposed parallel with each other and spaced apart the thickness of the ring plate I.

The outer end portions of the arms I9 respectively embrace opposite sides of the ring plate I to which they are rigidly fastened, as by spot welding. The Wing portions 20 arel disposed horizontally against the adjacent edges of the notches I5, at opposite sides of the projections I6. The outer ends of the wing portions 2D bear against the closedends of the notches I5, thus spacing the middle portions I8 and their openings 2| from the projections I6 and eliminating lability of accidental disengagement of the pintles 5 and 6 from the bearing plates I'I,

In assembling, the pintle 5 is inserted into and fastened in the depressions 1, 8 and 9, as has been described. The damper plate 4 is then inserted in the ring plate I, as shown in Fig. 1, with the pintle 5 extended into the opening 2| of the adjacent bearing plate Il, and its outer end against the projection I6.

The other pintle 6 is then inserted outwardly into the open inner end of the depression I2, and thence through the depressions I I and I through the opening 2l of the adjacent bearing plate I7, and with its outer end against the adjacent projection I6. The inner end of the depression I2 is then forced inwardly at I4, Figs. 4 and 5, against the inner end of the pintle 6. The pintles and 6, thus, by bearing against the projections I6, hold the damper plate 4 spaced from the inner edge of the ring plate I, eliminating the need of washers, sometimes provided on .the pintles for this purpose.

It will be noted that the outer end portions of the pintles 5 and 6 are completely enclosed in the two closed compartments the bearing plates I'I, thus preventing accumulation of rust, sediment or other material that would tend to resist the turning movement of the pintles in the bearing openings 2l. These openings are only the length of the thickness of the metal bearing plates, so offer small surface area for rust collection, and permit the damper plate ll to swing freely in the bearing plates Il.

A stop plate 22 is fastened to the outer side of the ring plate I below the axis of the damper plate 4, and engages and holds the latter from Aswinging outwardly at its lower end past the plane of the ring plate I. The upper end of the stop plate 22 turns outwardly and is disposed in the path of the portion of the damper plate above the axis, thus limiting the opening movement of the damper plate, when the inward draft through the ring plate swings the damper plate to an open position,

IFor counterbalancing the damper plate, it has fastened to it above its axis counterbalancing means consisting of the following described parts.

A plurality of metal cups, three as shown, 23, 24 and 25 are nested oneinside and in front of the other, the front cup 23 having a concentric annular portion provided at its outer periphery with an annular flange 26 which tightly embraces the periphery of the front portion of the outer` cup 25, Fig. 7.

Between the cups 24 and 25 is disposed a disk of metal, as lead, 21. The cups 23, 24 and 25 and lead disk 21 have through them a central row of holes through which extends a bolt, as a rivet 28, which extends through a hole in the damper plate in the vertical center and above the axis thereof. In the cup 23 on the rivet 28 is a sleeve 29 bearing at its inner end against the closed end of the cup 23, and at its outer end against the inner side of the damper plate 4. A sleeve 30 on the rivet 28 bears at one end against the outer side of the damper plate 4 and at its other end against one of two washers 30, the outer one of which bears against the head at the outer end of the rivet 28.

The cups 23, 24 and 25, and disk 2l may be formed from cheap scrap metal, thus replacing the usual brass weights heretofore employed. By assembling the cups and disk, as shown and described, they form an integral structure that can be used and handled as a unit, thus facilitating the assembling of the weight mechanism.

In the operation of the apparatus, the counterbalancing weight mechanism is proportioned so that it will hold the damper plate y4 closed, as shown in the drawing. When the flue draft exceeds a predetermined pressure, the atmospheric pressure from the outside will swing the damper plate 4 inwardly at its lower end and outwardly at its upper end, or counterclockwise, as viewed in Fig. 3, an amount depending upon the increased draft. When the draft in the uereduces in pressure to the predetermined pressure, the damper plate will return to the closed position, where it will be stopped by striking against the inner side of the stop plate 22, the upper end of which will limit the opening movement of the damper plate.

I Modifications of my invention, within the scope of the appended claims, may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention,

WhatI claim is: 1. In a draft regulatingapparatus, a ring plate adapted to be disposed at the air intake end of a draftpipe and having at its inner edge two Ioppositely disposed alined notches, each having at its closed end an inwardly extending projection, two bearing plates respectively mounted in jacent one of said projections, each'bearing'plate having extending outwardly from its` middle portion two arms which respectively embrace and are rigidly attached to opposite sides of said ring plate at the outer side of the adjacent notch, each bearing plate having one above the other two wing portions extending from its middle portion into the adjacent notch to theclosed end thereof and yto its said two arms, a damperfplate in and spaced at its edges from said ring plate, and two longitudinally alined -pintles rigidly fastened to said damper plate and extending respectively from opposite edges thereof through and pivotally mounted in said openings of said bearing plates and bearing at their distant ends against said projections respectively, said damper plate kbeing yadapted to be swung, supported by said pintles,

from a closed position substantially in the plane of said ring plate to an open position at an angle thereto.

2. In a draft regulating apparatus, a'ring plate adapted to be disposed at the air intake end o-f a draft pipe and having at its inner edge two oppositely disposed alinedl notches, two'bearing plates respectively vmounted irr said notches and having each a vertical middle portion transverse to said ring plate and having an opening alined v with and spaced a substantial distance from the closed end of the adjacent notch, each bearing plate having extending outwardly from its middle portion two arms which respectively embrace and are rigidly attached to 'opposite sides of said ring plate at the outerside of the adjacent notch, said i middle portions, each having at opposite upper and lower edges two horizontal Wings extending n, to said arms and forming with the middle portions and said arms a closed compartment, a

damper plate in and spaced at its edges vfrom said of said bearing plates and extending through said compartments and bearing at their distant ends lagainst the closed ends respectively of said notches,` said damper plate being adapted to .be swung,y supported by said pintles, from a closed position substantially in the plane of'said ring plate to an open position at an angle thereto.

3. 1n a draft regulating apparatus, a ring plate f adapted to be disposed at the air intake end of a draft pipe and having at its inner edge a notch having at its closed end an inwardly extending projection, a bearing plate mounted in said notch and having a vertical middle portion transverse tosaid ring plate and having an opening alined with and spaced from said projection, said bearing plate having extending outwardly from its middle portion two arms which respectively embrace and are rigidly attached to opposite sides of said ring plate at the outer side of said notch, said bearing plate having one above the other two wing portions extending from its middle portion into the said notch to the closed end thereof and to said two arms,v a damper'plate in and spaced at its edges from said ring plate, and a pintle rigidly attached to said damper plate and pivotally mounted in said opening and bearing at its outer end against said projection.

4. In a draft regulating apparatus, a ring plate i adapted to be disposed at the air intake end of l a draft pipe and having at its inner edge a notch, a bearing plate mounted in said notch and having a vertical middle portion transverse to said ring plate and having an opening alined with and spaced a substantial distance from the closed end of said notch, said bearing plate having extending outwardly from its middle portion twovertical arms which respectively embrace and 'are rigidly attached to oppositesides of said ring plate at the outer side of said notch, said middle portion having at opposite upper and lower edges two v RICHARD A. WALKER. 

